Blogger Sketch Sunday [Style is Style]

Hello bloggers! Welcome to the Thirty-second edition of Blogger Sketch Sunday. This week's post features Lydia of Style is Style whose blog is located in Vancouver, Canada.

3 Reasons I love this blog:

-I love bloggers who incorporate many vintage finds into their wardrobe. Lydia works thrifted dresses like no else can. On the hanger, the floral prints, lace appliqués, and bedazzlement may be intimidating, but she wears them in a way that never ceases to look stylish and well put together. Her vintage leather bags and cute headpieces and a quirky cute touch to all her outfits.

-I always enjoy the fashion inspiration posts Lydia posts. She gathers many street style pictures, magazine photo shoots, and outfits of other bloggers that always draw in my attention. Perhaps she just has a great eye for collecting them, because many of the photos in my style inspiration folder come from her posts.

-If a 50's housewife read The Sartorialist 60 years ago, her style would be Lydia's. This blogger's fashion sense combines full high waisted skirts and traditional blouses with street style savvy jackets, collars, and turbans. She pulls off daring trends without fear.

So if you've never come across her blog, you need to go check it out! I've posted the link to it where I first named her blog above.

COMMISSIONS NOTICE

Sorry again to the people who have sent me emails about commissioning an artwork from me. I am waiting on a few previous clients who have commissioned me to start wrapping up. When I get completely finished with these, I plan to post the artwork I've done and reply to all of the emails I have received.

Thanks!

Rach:]

Girls Day in Dusseldorf

A few days ago a trip to Dusseldorf turned into a full girl's day out. It was a much needed indulgence into girly-ness though, since I haven't gone shopping since first arriving in Germany. Three friends from school and myself bought train tickets to Dusseldorf, which is a city located on the opposite side of the river from Cologne. Where as Cologne is more gritty and historic, known more for their bars, pubs, and the Cathedral; Dusseldorf apparently is known for their fashion forward dwellers and plethora of trendy shops. And we weren't disappointed at all when we got there. Somehow we found the shopping district from the train station pretty easily and it was nice to be able to take our time in the stores without any boys getting impatient with us. Downtown Dusseldorf reminded me a lot of San Francisco, or at least a German version of it.

Our first stop was this super awesome interior design store called Habitat. I have absolutely no eye for actually putting together a chic looking room, but I'm always enthralled by modern decor. If I were rich I'd buy lots and lots of pieces from this place. Its like IKEA on crack. But knowing me, I'd have no idea how to utilize all of it once I got it all home.

I really liked these wall clocks I found. They remind me of the Prismacolor Neupastels I used in art class in high school.

AH! I love love love black and yellow together! Its my favorite color combination. When I saw these displays I had to take a few photos.

I'm pretty sure this photo lurking from behind a fake plant is a little creepy. Sorry Stephanie.

I think Allison was saying we should get going. Or that these couches are really comfy.

This is the set up we were sitting at. If you remember my post about wanting a purple room, you probably know how much I loved this. Theres something about the shade of the purple couches and purple flowers.

Later we found this Beauty and Perfume shop called Douglas. Alyssa tried on a bunch of nail polishes and found a few really pretty purple and gray shades. These are photos of Essie nail polishes.

Obviously the shade of nail polish on my thumb is not the same as the color in the bottle. But I was caught up in how cute this small Chanel nail polish was, usually they come in those larger bottles. The polish on my thumb was from testing this Anny nail polish. They had super saturated colors and were pretty opaque, so one coat really did the job.

Picked up a nice free magazine from H&M, our next stop. I love H&M. And magazines. And free things. So this was the jackpot of my day.

Our last stop out shopping was a store called Accessorize. You can guess what they sold here. I can only describe it as an upscale Claire's. While Claire's is full of teeny-bopper rhinestones and punk-wanna-be wristbands, Accessorize has a more earthy, beachy, and glam flair.

Allison become enlightened that her color palette was gold, coral, and turquoise. Which the store was full of. But their items are far over priced. You could find pieces back in states like this, this, this or this for much cheaper.

Alyssa had a terrible headache all day unfortunately. I feel her pain, because I get frequent migraines a lot too. I feel like they are a combination of stress, too much sugar/caffeine, and crazy bus/train/tram rides. Alyssa turned into Professor Quirrel and used her scarf as a turban to add pressure and alleviate the pain.

Check out Stephanie's awesome Happy Hippo cookie we found in a convenience store. I love kinder-snacks here in Germany, even if they are meant for children.

We had a slight snag in our day towards the end of our trip. We bought the right ticket and took the correct train to Dusseldorf, but we caught the wrong one back. Since we've never bought tickets to anywhere but Cologne before, we forgot to check the type of train we had to get on. Apparently the train we took back (and waited 30 minutes more for because it was late) was a nicer train than the one we took to Dusseldorf. A man checking tickets got extremely upset with us and kept demanding "WAS IST DAS?!" when presented our ticket. He told us we needed to pay a fine of 200 euros for taking the wrong train when we got back to Bonn. Needless to say, when we arrived at the next stop, we swiftly dashed off the train and never looked back.

After that incident though we had a nice dinner of pasta and potato wedges in a restaurant back in Bonn. There a waiter (although I had the impression he was higher up and might be in management) offered us a job designing an advertisement for the restaurant and asked me if I was Chinese on at least 3 separate occasions. Sorry. I don't answer to 'Ni Hao'. I knew this would happen here in Germany. Its happened before when I went to Yosemite in California and was confronted by a multi-lingual Jehovah's witness. Thankfully he didn't speak Vietnamese.

I've been mistaken for Mexican back home, Turkish a few weeks ago, and now Chinese. Well. At least they are getting closer.

Rach:]

Blogger Sketch Sunday [Atlantic-Pacific]

Hey bloggers! Its the Thirty-first edition of Blogger Sketch Sunday! This week's post features Bee of Atlantic-Pacific, whose blog hails from San Francisco, CA.

3 Reasons I love this blog:

-This blogger knows that hair and accessories make the outfit. She'll put on well-fitted basics and then take her look to a whole other level with a bouffant up-do or a chic super-high bun. Then she tops it all off with retro sunglasses and statement jewelry. Bold gold chains, chunky bangles, and sparkly rhinestones don't look tacky on Bee because she has accessorizing down to an art. Despite having such attention grabbing accessories, they never clash and she never looks tacky because of how she styles them.

-Speaking of her hairstyles, I have some serious hair envy of this lady. Seriously. As someone who has just lived with the natural waves hairstyle her whole life because her hair is just too crazy to try to control, I love how polished Bee's hair-do's look. I wish I could pull off such teased heights and sleek strands with everyday ease. She needs to start posting some hair tutorials or something, because I would be an avid learner.

-I feel like Bee has a really good hold of fashion history. I mean sometimes, fashionistas get too wrapped up in the current trendiest things and their looks get confusing. But Bee is pretty organized in her fashionable decades. She knows the 50's retro chic from the 60's bold mod from the 70's hippie flair. Her outfits always pull from stylish previous decades without looking dated or costumey.

If you've never checked out her blog, you need to! I've posted the link to it where I first named her blog above.

Can you believe it? A Blogger Sketch Sunday that is actually on time on a Sunday? Three cheers for a free day from school this week that allowed me to have more sketching time. My goal is to have at least 52 editions of Blogger Sketch Sunday. That way it will be a full year of 3 sketches a week for 52 weeks. I think it'd be a great personal achievement for myself and I will have a huge recap of all 52 bloggers that I have featured and probably a little celebration for myself. So here is to 21 more editions of Blogger Sketch Sunday to come!

Rach:]

Music and Recap

Alright so to be honest I haven't really done much traveling lately worthy enough of a blog post. I mean other than a random night out to see Young the Giant play in Cologne that I went on a whim to, I haven't really been up to much. Sounds boring I know, but its been giving me time to organize my blog so keep on the look out for a blog re-boot pretty soon.

Seeing Young the Giant was a pretty crazy because we got to stand pretty much right in front of the stage. Since no one else in the German club was really keen on seeing them, it was super easy to get close up. After they finished playing, me and 4 of my friends from class ran into them outside. They actually started up a conversation with us and one of the members later got us a round of beers. Of course I realize that they were probably just keen on us because we were the only Americans in attendance and due to some flirtation (although not really on my part). And to be honest I'd never heard of them ever in my life 24 hours before I met them. I'll credit getting to see such a awesome show to my friends with much better music taste than I.

I've never really been one to brag about my music tastes because I personally don't think I have that exquisite of preferences. If you asked me what my favorite 3 bands are I'd have to say the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ratatat, and Breaking Benjamin. But that said, you'll also find guilty pleasures such as Lady Gaga's Poker Face and Cobra Starship's Hot Mess on my ipod too. And yes if you barge in on me in my room unexpectedly, I will be singing Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. Any respectable music I listen to must be credited to my friends in Austin. Although recently I've been listening to Damien Rice, The Black Keys, and Adele. Going through a phase I suppose.

Any who. All of the photos in this post are not my own. My roommate Amy finally got her computer and was able to upload all of the photos she took from our previous excursions. I figured I'd steal a few to show you some awesome pictures taken by her and a few of myself since I've been slacking on taking photos of myself since coming here. So here is basically a recap of my time in Germany so far; including the town of Bonn, a few of Cologne, and some from Amsterdam.

This photo is actually stolen from Stephanie. Thanks for capturing me acting like a complete ham. Interesting fact, the artwork behind me is actually made of caviar stuck to a canvas.

Another photo stolen from Stephanie. Its us at Fiddler's for a Pub Trivia night. Our team placed 7th. Not bad for not being able to understand questions in a heavy German accent and not knowing enough songs by boy bands from the 90's by heart.

And lets wrap up with another photo from Amy. Its too soon to reminisce, but this is me at the bus stop on our first day of school in Germany. Yep fresh the next morning after a 10 hour flight from the states.

Sorry for a recap blog post. I'll try to do something more exciting/blogable next time. And if not, at least take some valid outfit pictures. I told you black skinnies with black boots and a black trench was my daily uniform didn't I? These candid pictures sure prove so.

Till next time bloggers!

Rach:]

Love Is

Love is Patient.

Love is Kind.

And is not jealous.

Love does not brag.

And is not arrogant.

Does not act unbecomingly.

It does not seek its own.

Is not provoked.

Does not take into account a wrong sufficed.

Does not rejoice in unrighteousness.

But rejoices in the truth.

Bears are all things.

Believes all things.

Hopes all things.

Endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Blogger Sketch Sunday [Barbro Andersen]

Hey there bloggers! Its the Thirtieth edition of Blogger Sketch Sunday! This week's post features Barbro of her self titled blog, Barbro Andersen. Her blog hails all the way from Norway.

3 Reasons I love this blog:

-Barbro's style can only be described as rocker chick meets wood nymph. She's got a lot of dark moody pieces in her wardrobe, but she still manages to look light and ethereal. Her looks vary from tough biker boots and edgy sequined leggings to long flowing dresses in neutral layers. I've never seen anyone work knits like she can. Sweater ponchos, knit leggings, and crochet shorts may sound granny-ish, but you'll think twice about them after seeing how spectacular she pulls them off.

-The photographs on her blog are beautiful. Her outfit posts aren't your run of the mill fashion blogger's here-I-am-in-my-backyard-trying-to-look-chic pictures. I feel like her photographs are actually stills from a movie. A movie in which she stars as the dark-haired heroine with an air of mystery to her, who lives in a woodsy snow covered wonderland.

-If you read her blog, you'll begin to find out that Barbro doesn't really care about following the latest trends or hottest styles. People like her remind me that fashion isn't about what labels dictate you should wear, but wearing what you feel most represents who you are. Barbro's looks stand out to me because they are her own style and not an exact replication of something I've already seen on the runway. Because as much as I love seeing the newest trends, its refreshing to look inside yourself for inspiration.

If you've never seen her blog, you need to go check it out. I've placed the link where I first named her blog above.

Also if you noticed that I actually didn't have a post on Sunday and this is actually Tuesday that I'm writing this on, I have 2 things to say to that. One: THANK YOU! Because this means you actually read my blog on Sunday to see that my weekly routine is off. Two: Its because of my lack of access to a scanner that makes my posts late. So I'll try to get better at it, but I'd appreciate it if you keep your faith in me and keep checking in on my weekly tradition.

*******COMMISSIONS NOTICE*******

If you have sent me an email requesting or inquiring about commissioning me to make a header for you, I am not ignoring you! I am super happy all of you guys want me to help you out with the look of your blog. But all of you guys together probably add up to a landslide of 20+ new requested commissions and I actually already have 6 commissions going on right now.

So please be patient with me. I HAVE read all of your emails and when I get done with this batch of commissions I will reply to all of them and start a new batch. If you are unsure if you want to wait until then, I plan to post a pricing and general info sheet on my blog soon for you to check out.

Thanks guys!

Rach:]

Eau de Cologne

A few days ago, the University had a day trip to Cologne, Germany which is about 45 minutes from Bonn. After a whole other bus fiasco (this time the bus picking us up from our neighborhood was late, not our fault) my roommate Amy, 2 other girls from our class, and I barely made the train leaving Bonn. We literally ran through the icy and crowded streets downtown to the train station. I'm surprised I didn't manage to wipe out running on the snow. I guess my duck boots had more traction than I gave them credit for.

In Cologne, we visited the Ludwig Museum of Modern Art. Pretty much filled with the iconic works of the 1960's from guys like Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and of course Andy Warhol. This reflection is actually in this strange installation piece that was activated by sound and lit up to show chairs behind the glass.

This is a pretty good representation of my everyday attire. A lot of black on black. I was trying to be as practical as possible upon packing for my trip. Most of my clothes are black so that they would all work together. Now though I think I want to invest in a few statement pieces to give my look some pop. I've got a desire for a cute pair of heeled boots, a bold bag, or a nice going out shirt. Can't seem to have time to shop though, which my wallet is very glad about.

These artworks above are by Jasper Johns. I've always liked his work. Even though his American flag paintings are overly-iconic, I really like the texture he gets by mixing wax with paint pigment.

Mondrian. The one and only. I absolutely hated this piece when I was younger, but its minimalistic simplicity and bold colors have grown on me over the years.

I found this piece in the exhibit by chance. It was in a rather obscure corner. Its actually my absolute favorite piece I saw that day. By Richard Hamilton, its a large scale oil painting of an inverse photograph. I always thought about doing the same idea and its interesting to see it actually done.

The most gorgeous photo of Audrey Hepburn on display. Seriously, this lady's face is flawless. No wonder she is such an icon. I think the shape of her eyes and eyebrows is very distinctly her.

These photos are of the Cologne Cathedral, which was the main reason for our trip to the city. Apparently it is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. It is also the resting place for the remains of the 3 wise men from the bible.

The phenomenal view down the side of the cathedral to the altar. It is quite the vision. My photographs don't do it justice.

I was in love with the design of the stained glass windows. Apparently the original windows were destroyed so the city hired an artist to replace them with a new concept. The artist balanced between modern and traditional. He made a simple geometric design and used the same colors of glass from the original window. I think it looks like a close up of a super pixelated computer image.

Probably one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen before. A photo can't really capture the feeling. Although I love photography, sometimes its better to let down the barrier that is the camera between you and the world and just fully feel the experience.

And of course I must leave you with a food photograph. I swear these bakeries in Germany will be the death of me. What better advertising is there than displaying your sweets in a store front window and leaving the doors open for savory smells to waft through the streets? These were a sort of jelly filled donuts that were incredibly delicious. All they needed was some peanut butter frosting on top.

Thanks for reading guys! Auf Wiedersehen!

Rach:]